It is religion, greed, and just plain stupidity that has been behind all of mankind's wars.
AlanF - First I do agree that greed and stupidity are a couple of reasons for war. You accuse someone else for being ignorant, not factual, and yet you make such a blanket statement, that to my mind, is just as ignorant. Religion is not behind all of mankind’s wars; people are behind mankind’s wars. Yes, some may well have been "religious" people, but to blame all religions is, to my mind, very untrue. I think it’s a lot more complicated than that. I think a lot of things lead up to war. Possibly a few orchestrate it but the masses still have to be in agreement.
Hitler may well have been Catholic but he, and many of his co-horts dabbled in the occult, so when you state that all religions started wars, do you include Satanism? Europe ( especially Germany and France?) was becoming morally very deviant, especially sexually prior to WW2; there was a lot of anxiety, people didn’t seem to know what to hang on to anymore. Is it possible that in the beginning Hitler in his own warped mind may have wanted to clean up immorality-but ending up with an even more deviant immorality?
Economics and greed had a lot to do with it. There has always been a few, whether religious or political, that have tried to rule or control the masses and for the most part the masses have accepted it. Could it be that these few use religion as a reason or excuse but that in truth it was for their own gain? Could it be a lust for power and acquisitions of money, land, natural resources etc. War is very lucrative. A few become even more wealthy and the poor...well, they will fight another war when the rich require them to do so; a dime a dozen people.
I realize that there are conspiracies, Illuminate, Thule Society or whatever, that may be behind wars; that they want to dominate the world. Could the possibility exist of a "New World Order?"; a one world government. I truly don’t know if this is true. Part of me thinks it’s very paranoid, but then again it could be true.
If you were to stretch the imagination could Europe possibly be heading for trouble down the road; that as a whole it is becoming morally bankrupt? With all the talk of Europeans becoming more secular, more enlightened? more intellectual? healthier? etc you would think that they had found paradise. Having all my extended family there I personally don't see it, but maybe I'm the one that is ignorant. What I see (in the Netherlands) is open sexual immorality (go to Amsterdam's red light district), abortion, out of control drug abuse (were the people more enlightened when they openly allowed drug use), euthenasia, a growing Muslim population; possibly wanting to dominate the world? This is not to ignore the fact that North America has a much bigger problem with drugs and abortion, but like Europe we are becoming more secular. Just don't give me the fantasy that all is well in Europe.
It is exactly this sort of ignorant nonsense that illustrates why religiously inspired ignorance ought to be stamped out.
How would one go about stamping out religiously inspired ignorance? Education? Science, Politics is the answer to all our problems? Maybe I should include consumerism (maybe that's the opium of the masses(who can afford it) of today) - you know how we all want stuff! People will gradually discard religion as they become more enlightened? I don’t believe that will ever happen so then the only other alternative to eliminate religion is to eliminate the people who profess faith in anything other than science or politicians. I am not knocking science but when you begin to worship science; that it is the saviour of the world, that's what I have a problem with.
In the end the above is my opinion. If I'm wrong about anything I will admit it. I realize that sometimes we can come across as arrogant and angry and I hope that I haven't come across that way; that is not my intent. Maybe I am a bit cranky: 3wks of tooth pain could do it for anybody. No I am not ignoring my tooth-getting root canal done tomorrow.
A few quotes to make us wonder (about world domination by an elite group): the first is an applicable quote and have included it even though I totally disagree with his philosophy. I imagine that in his mind it's a Jewish conspiracy; they want control of the world; or is it Zionists? Okay, I realize that the fourth quote doesn't have anything to do with New World Order. I realize too that it is quote by one sick individual and doesn't necessarily typify beliefs of all atheists.
Victor E. Marsden: the world is gradually moving towards a One World Government, controlled by an irreproachable hidden hand. In The Protocols, we are given clear insights as to why so many incomprehensible political decisions are made in both local, national and international politics, which seem to continually work against the favour of the masses and in favour of the vested interests of the banking/industrial cartel -- the global power elite.
David Edwards shows how the propaganda system distorts our understanding of political, personal and spiritual issues, ensuring that we remain passive, conformist, confused and uninformed - and willing to accept the irrational values of corporate consumerism. He argues that we need to master the arts of "intellectual self-defence", in order to become able to challenge the "necessary illusions" of a system that subordinates people and planet to the drive for profit.
Winston Churchill is an interesting individual, as he later came to the conclusion that there was indeed a master conspiracy at work in the major events of the world, when he wrote the following in 1920: "From the days of Spartacus——Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, to those of Trotsky (Russia)... this world-wide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization... has been steadily growing."
Berhardi, a general retired from the German General Staff, made a number of social darwinist arguments about the necessity and benefits of war; war was a very important element of natural selection weeding out the weak and unfit and keeping nations and ‘‘races’’ virile and vigorous.
a new scale of national state——‘‘world power’’——was going to emerge in the 20th C had been around for some time; Alexis de Tocqueville had forecast this in the 1840s and Seeley had done so in the 1880s.